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The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana has released a new general order updating a prisoner electronic filing program.
The general order, signed by Chief Judge Tanya Walton Pratt, replaces the general order from 2014. The electronic filing program was initially implemented in 2013.
The program uses technology to allow safe, efficient and cost-effective filing of documents with the Southern District of Indiana Clerk’s Office by Indiana state prisoners incarcerated by the Indiana Department of Correction at participating facilities, including facilities run by corporations who have contracted with the state to house prisoners.
All prisoners at participating facilities are required to use the program to file documents with the court and to send any correspondence to the court. The program is mandatory for all prisoners incarcerated within participating facilities.
The order states that it anticipates the e-filing program will expand to include additional Indiana Department of Correction facilities in the future.
Each participating facility will establish an email address from which prison library staff may receive Notice of Electronic Filings.
To implement the e-filing program, library staff will scan and submit documents provided by a prisoner for filing to the court via email, consistent with procedures prescribed by the clerk of court.
Library staff have been provided a stamp that will be used to mark the first page of the document submitted by a prisoner for filing.
The stamp contains the document’s page count, initials of the library staff processing the document and the date the document was submitted.
All prisoners at participating facilities are required to use the e-filing program to file documents with the Southern District and to send any correspondence to the court.
Prisoners who want to participate in the program must execute a written consent agreeing to receive a copy of documents issued by the court via the e-service program.
Prisoners who do not participate in the e-service program will receive court issued documents via U.S. mail and will not receive a notice of electronic filing or a copy of the first page of their filed document. Prisoners who do not participate are also responsible for serving their non-case-initiating filings on any unrepresented parties in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
E-filing and e-service programs are not available in criminal cases.
If a prisoner is transferred to a facility that is not participating in the e-filing program, then all participants in the case will return to the traditional method of filing and serving case documents through the U.S. mail.
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